TGHB 01

Chapter – 01

Prologue

Black flames erupted.

“P-please, save me!”

“Fire! Everyone, run!”

The sudden magical flames began to greedily consume everything around them.

People screamed and scrambled to escape.

And I was…

“Take me with youuuu!”

…clinging tightly to the firmly locked iron bars, crying out pitifully all alone.

‘Seriously, if you’re going to imprison someone, you should take responsibility until the end!’

It had been about half a year since I was brought to this mysterious place and locked up.

I was an orphan, a beggar.

I was born inside a prison, so I spent my childhood there without even knowing who my parents were.

After the prison closed, I was sent to an orphanage—

‘It was hell.’

Because I had to endure bullying and violence every day.

Then, the year I turned 18,

I was practically kicked out of the orphanage with nothing to my name. Unable to find a proper job, I had to beg on the streets to survive.

Becoming a beggar at 18.

‘Back then, I thought things couldn’t get any worse.’

How naive.

Life wasn’t easy on me.

One day, while wandering the streets with an empty stomach as usual…

“Melony?”

“Who are— Mmph!”

…I was kidnapped by some mysterious assailants and locked up in this prison-like place.

What a twisted fate.

Ah, it’s so miserable, tears are coming out.

I roughly wiped away the tears dripping down with the back of my hand.

“…It’s all because of this useless Authority.”

I stopped crying and looked down at my hand with resentful eyes.

Grabbing the hem of my tattered dress and concentrating, an unknown light sparkled, and the dress became as good as new.

This was the Authority I possessed.

The Authority to repair broken objects.

Officially, the ‘Authority of Repair.’

A power that had manifested out of the blue just a few days before I was brought here—

“An orphan with an Authority. I never thought we’d get such a fine test subject.”

“And it’s not an Authority held by the three great families, but a new kind of Authority!”

That was also the reason I was brought here.

After locking me up in this place, they began experimenting with my power every day.

“Use your power on this object today.”

“To think you can repair an object of this size.”

“Then, can you repair something that’s completely broken?”

Even if I got a nosebleed or fainted from overusing my ability, they would drag me back to the lab the very next day.

Repeating that for over half a year made me feel like I was going crazy.

‘I’d rather be begging on the streets.’

At least as a beggar, I was free.

Being locked up here, on the other hand, was so wretched and stifling. It felt like I had become a circus animal.

Still, I endured, clinging to the slim hope that I might escape someday.

But.

‘And this is the result.’

A fate of burning to death alone and miserably.

*Cough, cough.*

Just as I was coughing up phlegm from the acrid smoke.

*Thud, thud.*

In the silent prison, the sound of heavy footsteps reached me.

‘A person?!’

I stopped coughing and jerked my head up.

I didn’t need to look around to find the source of the sound.

A pale white face, golden eyes that had lost their focus.

A handsome man with a somewhat sinister aura was looking down at me.

‘That man…’

I recognized his face.

He was the man they had brought a few days ago, when this mysterious group (I call them the <Snake Den>. Because there’s a picture of a snake with sharp fangs painted on the wall.) wanted to test if my ability worked on humans.

‘…He was in bad shape back then.’

The man’s entire body was covered in wounds and scars.

Seeing him look like he could die at any moment, I used my Authority to the best of my ability.

But the result was a failure.

No matter how hard I tried, there was no change in the man’s body.

In the end, I was the one who got a nosebleed and collapsed first.

This was the first time I’d seen him since then.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t heal you, but I’m glad you survived.’

In fact, he seemed to have survived quite vigorously.

Enough to—

‘Start a fire like this.’

It was obvious at a glance that the arsonist responsible for this fire was the man before me.

I could tell instantly.

Blue flames were swirling around him in circles.

*Gulp.*

I swallowed dryly.

It was my first time seeing an arsonist, so my heart was pounding a little.

But then, the next moment.

The man, who had been staring at me blankly, slowly placed his hand on the iron bars. And then.

*KABOOM!*

“Son of a—!”

He tore the iron bars off with his bare hands and flung them away.

With a loud noise, the iron bars flew and smashed into the empty wall, causing it to crumble with a crash.

Holding my pounding chest, I stared at the collapsed wall.

And I was astonished.

‘…Huh? What’s that?’

In the gaping hole, there was surprisingly a hidden staircase.

The man pointed there with a trembling fingertip.

“Go. Run. Away.”

His voice was strange.

It felt like two different voices were mixed together.

‘More importantly—’

Is he talking to me right now?

“Hurry. Run. Away.”

It seemed he was indeed talking to me.

As I cautiously got to my feet, the man nodded as if to encourage me.

In an instant, questions flooded my mind.

‘…Why?’

Why is he saving me?

Out of pity because I’m a fellow test subject?

Because I tried to heal him?

No, that can’t be. I failed to heal him.

“Um, excuse me…”

Just as I was about to ask a question.

“Retrieve the test subjects!”
“Somehow… the flames…!”

I could hear people rushing towards us from beyond the flames.

And they talk about abandoning people earlier!

‘…I need to run away first.’

Whatever the reason, getting out of here was the priority.

I couldn’t let this god-sent chance to escape slip away.

If I got caught this time, there was no telling how long I’d be locked up again.

As I stumbled into a run, the flames parted to the sides, clearing a path.

‘So it’s not ordinary fire after all.’

Is it fire made from magic?

Then, is that man a mage?

I ran without stopping along the path created by the flames.

Moving my legs non-stop, I climbed the stairs and placed my hand on the firmly closed doorknob.

*Huff, huff.*

I gasped for breath and looked back.

The man was still standing in the same spot, watching me.

His expressionless face seemed somehow lonely.

“Hey!”

“……”
“…Thank you!”

At my belated thanks, the corners of his mouth curved into an arc.

“I promised… to protect you.”

The man muttered something, but it was too quiet to hear.

“Then, I hope we meet again if we get the chance!”

Shouting that, I turned my body back towards the door.

I didn’t know who that person was, but one thing was certain.

‘That man must be my luck.’

A piece of luck, rare in a life filled with misfortune.

I pushed the door open with force.

Cold night air rushed into my lungs.

Ah, the outside air is so refreshing!

Tears welled up for no reason.

‘Let’s try living hard again.’

Now that I know that luck can exist even in a life I thought was endlessly unlucky.

Let’s try living hard once more…!

“My, my. I almost lost an important test subject.”

*Thump.*

Along with a horrifying voice, something sharp pierced through my chest.

“Who would have imagined that a test subject brought from the shrine would run amok? I thought it was the finished product, but it turns out it was defective.”

“*Cough, gahk.*”

A low voice buzzed in my ear.

“But it’s a relief we managed to save the most important test subject.”

…No.

‘I have to run away—’

He told me to run away.

It was the first bit of luck I’d had in so long.

So, I decided to cherish this precious opportunity and live hard…

“P-please, save—”

“Now, let’s go.”

The man, who let out a small laugh, held me in his arms.

At the same time.

‘…A ring?’

The ring on the man’s finger glittered in the moonlight breaking through the clouds.

The shape of the ring was unique.

A snake with a sword pierced through its head.

For some reason, I felt like that snake was staring at me. Or perhaps, sneering.

And that was my last memory.

‘I don’t… want to die.’

As my vision gradually blurred, I closed my eyes.

…Right, that’s definitely what happened.

‘How am I alive?’

The moment I was stabbed by the sword is still vivid in my mind.

But that wasn’t the only strange thing.

“…My handth are tho thmall.”

My hands were small, my feet were small, everything was short.

Moreover.

“My pronunthiathton ith thtrange too.”

My pronunciation was all lisping, like a child’s.

‘Wait a minute. A child?’

Struck by a sudden curiosity, I ran *dododo* to a nearby mirror.

And the moment I saw my reflection in the mirror.

“…Oh my goodneth.”

I couldn’t help but be shocked.

White hair and violet-colored eyes.

A short 4-head body with tiny hands and feet.

‘No matter how I look at it, it’s my childhood self.’

What is going on?

Ah, maybe this is a dream?

After being pierced by the sword, I lost consciousness and am now dreaming?

I took a deep breath and then pinched my soft cheek and pulled.

“…It hurtth?”

Which meant it wasn’t a dream.

1. I was kidnapped, tried to escape, and died.

2. I thought for sure I was dead, but I’m alive.

3. But I’m a child.

There’s absolutely no connection between these events.

As I stood there dazedly with my frozen mind, that’s when it happened.

*Creeeak—*

Along with the sound of the door opening, a woman revealed herself.

“What’s wrong, Melony?”

“…Huh, wha?”

“I thought I heard something like a scream. Did you have a nightmare?”

The woman who approached me looked at me with worried eyes.

‘Huh? Wait a minute.’

This face is definitely—

“J-Jeanne unnie…?”

“Yeah, unnie is here.”

What? Really, Jeanne unnie?

At the natural reply, my jaw just dropped.

Jeanne unnie was the sister I lived with during my time in the illegal prison ‘Bramsche.’

Which means…

‘Don’t tell me, I regressed?’

To before my death. And to my childhood?

“Melony, what’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”

Heh, hehe.

“Unnie, lithten…”

“Yeah, Melony.”

I stretched out my small hand and tapped unnie’s shoulder.

“Remember thith, unnie.”

“Remember what?”

“…The world ith a mad plathe.”

The world is truly a mad place, unnie.

With those words, I blacked out completely.

“Melony? Melony! Snap out of it, Melony!”

Jeanne unnie’s shouts reached me from beyond my fading consciousness.